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Wednesday, November 27, 2024
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Hutt City Council exits Riverlink Alliance Model to cut costs

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Riverlink news
Image – Riverlink Partners,.

Hutt City Council has stepped away from the alliance delivery model for the $700 million Riverlink project, which includes relocating Melling railway station, building a new bridge over Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River, and improving stopbanks.

The council cited concerns over affordability and cost-efficiency after reviewing the model formed with AECOM and Fletcher Construction in 2023.

Mayor Campbell Barry stated the alliance could not deliver key components, such as the city link bridge, within budget. The council will now pursue alternative delivery options while seeking government funding and collaborating with NZTA on other aspects of the project.

Queenstown police seek public’s help in search for overdue hiker

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Sanjeev hiker news
Overdue hiker Sanjeev. PHOTO SUPPLIED.

Police are appealing to the public for assistance in locating a hiker who has not returned from a trek in the Wye Creek area.

Sanjeev, a 25-year-old of Nepalese descent, was last seen on the morning of Wednesday, November 20, when he was dropped off at the start of the Wye Creek track on Kingston Road around 8:15 a.m. He planned to hike to the Remarkables ski field, with an expected arrival time of 8:00 p.m. the same day.

When he failed to arrive as planned, his friends reported him missing.

Sanjeev is described as being approximately 150cm tall, with a small build and black, shoulder-length hair. He was last seen wearing a black/grey jacket, hiking shoes, a beanie, and beige cargo pants. He is believed to be carrying a black backpack, one hiking pole, and a black DSLR camera bag.

Police are urging anyone who may have seen someone matching this description in the Wye Creek track area since Wednesday morning to contact them immediately.

If you have any information, please call Police on 111, quoting event number P060682376.

Bitcoin soars to record high

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Bitcoin price news

The cryptocurrency has been rallying since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.

The price of Bitcoin has continued to surge, smashing the $94,000 threshold for the first time on Wednesday. The latest push has been fueled by reports that US President-elect Donald Trump’s social media company is in talks to acquire crypto platform Bakkt, analysts say.

The flagship cryptocurrency was trading at around $94,472 per coin, up by more than 3% as of 14:30 GMT. The price has more than doubled since the start of this year.

Crypto-related stocks Coinbase Global, MicroStrategy and Robinhood Markets were all higher in pre-market trading.

At $1.8 trillion, Bitcoin is now the seventh-largest financial asset by market capitalization, surpassing energy giant Saudi Aramco and moving closer to tech giants Amazon and Google. Overall, the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies eclipsed $3 trillion this week, up by about 85% since January.

The latest crypto advance comes after the Financial Times reported on Monday that Donald Trump’s social media company was holding talks to buy crypto trading firm Bakkt.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told the outlet that Trump Media and Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, is close to an all-stock acquisition of Bakkt.

The deal would be another sign of the president-elect’s favorable stance on the crypto sector.

“Trump’s seeming interest to push further into crypto on a personal level has contributed to optimism that crypto will be a top priority when Trump takes office,” said Stephane Ouellette, chief executive officer of crypto trading firm FRNT Financial, as quoted by Reuters.

During the campaign, Trump made a range of promises to the crypto industry, including that he would make the US the “crypto capital of the planet” and insisting that all Bitcoin should be mined in the country. He even used Bitcoin to buy cheeseburgers and beer for his supporters at a New York City bar.

Trump has also pledged to unseat US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who has taken an aggressive approach to the crypto industry.

This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was meeting privately with the CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong.

Some analysts say that with investor expectations of eased regulations in the crypto sector, the $100,000 threshold for Bitcoin is now in sight.

“Bitcoin’s new all-time high reflects a milestone in its price and a fundamental shift in its political and economic acceptance,” XS.com analyst Antonio Di Giacomo said on Wednesday in a note, seen by Barron’s.

“With factors like US government support, increased institutional interest, and the potential use of Bitcoin by sovereign nations, the path to $100,000 seems increasingly plausible,” he claimed.

Image credit: Getty Images

Police acknowledge IPCA findings on Taranaki fatal shooting of Kaoss Price

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Kaoss Price news

Police acknowledge the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s findings in relation to the 2022 fatal shooting of Kaoss Price in Taranaki.

About 9.30pm on Saturday 16 April, Mr Price was driving in convoy with a friend, heading north towards Waitara on State Highway 3.

Two officers in a dog van parked just north of Bell Block recognised one of the vehicles as being associated with Mr Price, who had a warrant for his arrest.

As the officers pulled out, Mr Price moved to the wrong side of the road to pass his friend and sped into the distance.

Over the next three and half minutes, Mr Price drove at high speed without lights; pulled out in front of the dog van, forcing the officer driving to take evasive action; sideswiped the dog van, immobilising his own car; and attempted to hijack another vehicle from members of the public.

The officer driving, identified only as Officer A, fired at Mr Price six times — as he sideswiped the dog van, as he ran from his car and as he attempted to hijack another vehicle.

The sixth and final shot struck Mr Price. He was also tasered and bitten by a Police dog.

The second officer, Officer B, administered first aid as soon as it was safe to do so but Mr Price did not survive.

The Authority found Officer A was justified in shooting at Mr Price on the first two occasions, totalling five shots.

However, on the balance of probabilities, it found the final shot constituted an excessive use of force.

It found no grounds for filing criminal charges against Officer A and recommend Police not undertake an employment process.

The use of the dog and taser was also justified.

Central District Commander Superintendent Dion Bennett says the staff involved took swift action to keep themselves and the public safe.

“They had to make split second decisions under extreme stress and I’m confident they acted with professionalism, in the best interests of public safety.

“No officer wants to use lethal force and our thoughts remain with the Price family as they too process these findings.”

Police acknowledges that the officers failed to advise Police Communications or their supervisor that they were armed, as Police policy requires.

Price’s family said they were “relieved but angry” about the IPCA’s report.

Kaoss’ grandmother Margaret Kennard welcomed the ruling of the shooting as “unjustified” but felt the lack of charges was “not good enough”.

“So what am I supposed to think? IPCA said police weren’t justified in killing my boy, but nobody is being held accountable for gunning down an unarmed 22-year-old? Kaoss is dead. If it had been anybody else, not from the police, who killed him, they’d be in court for this. Why are the police allowed to kill?”

She admitted Kaoss was “no angel” but that he did not deserve to die like this.

Israel to annex West Bank – reports

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West Bank news
The barren hills of the West Bank near Jericho.

The move will be aimed at preventing a two-state solution, according to the US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government intends to announce the formal annexation of the West Bank in the coming weeks, a source has told the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh.

According to Hersh, Israel has been “fortified by bombs and funding” from Washington and is ramping up the expulsion of Palestinians from northern Gaza to the south of the enclave. Meanwhile, the religious parties that “dominate” Netanyahu’s cabinet are demanding full control over both occupied Palestinian territories.

“I was told this week by a well-informed Washington official that the Israeli leadership will formally annex the West Bank in the very near future – perhaps in two weeks – in the hope that the decisive step will end, once and for all, any talk of a two-state solution and will convince some in the skeptical Arab world to reconsider financing the planned reconstruction of Gaza,” Hersh wrote in an article on his Substack on Wednesday.

If true, the move would coincide with the last few weeks of US President Joe Biden’s administration and create a new “reality on the ground” by the time President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. During his first term in the White House, Trump recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights and moved the US embassy to Jerusalem.

Israel declared war on Gaza-based Hamas last October, following a series of deadly raids by the Palestinian militants into Israeli territory. Around 1,100 Israelis died in the October 7 assault, while an estimated 250 were taken captive.

Almost 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli military operation, while another 104,000 more have been injured, according to local authorities.

The Israeli military and police have also cracked down on Palestinians in the West Bank, which is run by Fatah, a Palestinian faction at odds with Hamas.

The West Bank and Gaza were annexed by Jordan and Egypt, respectively, after the 1949 conflict that ended with the newly formed State of Israel in control of most of the Mandate for Palestine territory. Israel captured both in the 1967 war. International law considers the West Bank and Gaza to be occupied territories, and multiple UN resolutions have called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in those territories.

Hersh is an internationally renowned investigative reporter who earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up by the US military during the Vietnam War. He has also reported on the abuses of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib and the CIA’s domestic spying operations. More recently, Hersh has blamed the US for the September 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, an allegation that Washington has denied.

Image credit: Levi Meir Clancy

Police prepare to enforce new gang laws effective midnight

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From midnight tonight, new laws targeting gang-related crime and intimidation will come into effect, with police across the country ready to enforce the regulations under the Gangs Act 2024.

These laws grant law enforcement enhanced tools to curb gang activities, including prohibitions on displaying gang patches, signs, or symbols in public spaces.

Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham stressed that police are prepared to take swift action against breaches.

“If you wear a gang patch in public, or display a sign or symbol associated with a gang, you can expect the attention of Police, either at the time of the offence, or at a time that suits us,” Basham stated.

To support the rollout of these new measures, police have launched Operation Nickel, a nationwide initiative designed to ensure officers are equipped to enforce the laws effectively. Basham assured the public that the operation positions police well to respond to and address violations promptly.

“There will be no excuses. Anyone found in breach of the law can expect the certainty that Police will take action,” he said.

While enforcement is a priority, police have clarified that emergency and priority calls will remain their primary focus. In instances where immediate response to breaches is not possible, officers will gather evidence for enforcement action at a later date.

The newly established Gang Disruption Units will play a central role in this effort. These dedicated teams will target priority offenders, follow up on reported breaches, and, where necessary, execute search warrants and make arrests to recover gang-related insignia.

“Our message is simple — Parliament has passed a law, it’s our job to enforce the law, and we will be enforcing it,” Basham reiterated.

Police personnel nationwide have undergone training to understand the intricacies of the new law and ensure consistent application across the country.

Richard Chambers to be announced as new Police Commissioner – state media

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Richard Chambers news

Richard Chambers is set to become New Zealand’s new police commissioner, state media reports, following the resignation of Andrew Coster, who now heads the “Social Investment Agency”.

Chambers, currently assistant commissioner and a favourite among frontline police, was chosen over Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming after interviews last month.

The appointment, recommended by PM Christopher Luxon and endorsed by Police Minister Mark Mitchell, reflects the coalition government’s law-and-order priorities.

Mitchell, a critic of Coster’s “policing-by-consent” model, has emphasised a shift to a stricter, “back-to-basics” approach focused on gang disruption and organised crime.

Chambers is expected to provide “strong and decisive leadership” to meet the government’s expectations for robust policing, state media reported.

Swimmer who died at Piha named

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Piha tragedy news
Image – DTNZ Collection.

The swimmer who died at Piha Beach on Tuesday 12 November can now be named.

She was 33-year-old Swe Swe Htet of Takapuna, Auckland.

“Our thoughts are with her family and friends,” said police in a statement.

mRNA Vaccines, Cognitive Dissonance and our Future Prospects

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mRNA opinion

Like me you must be wondering how it has been possible that our health authorities have ignored the mounting toll of excess deaths, heart disease, cancers, neurological illness, menstrual disorders, kidney disease, fatigue, immunological disease and mental illness that we have been reporting and referencing, including alarming and unprecedented rising rates among younger people.

Of course they haven’t been ignoring it, the respective hospital departments and specialists have been working very hard to treat these conditions according to their current level of knowledge. As a result they are overwhelmed and overworked. No one however appears to be asking why this tsunami of illness has arrived, or if they are, they are only checking against a known and very short list of possible causes that existed pre-pandemic.

This has led to an extraordinary situation whereby those adversely affected, by what is increasingly looking like a very generalised Covid vaccine injury syndrome, are actually filled with gratitude for those whose lack of caution and questioning likely contributed to their condition. In other words, many are being gaslit, but are unaware it is happening, and thereby are left inadvertently thanking those who helped to initiate their injury. The ultimate deception.

As we reported in our article “A Door is Starting to Open to Discuss Our Devastating Public Health Data“, some UK oncologists are pointing out the sudden increase in cancer incidence since 2021, including both new and relapsed cancers. Dr. James Royle for example reports that since 2021 he is seeing many more aggressive cancers with complicated profiles, also unusually affecting younger people. It is not always possible to pinpoint the exact cause of any particular cancer case, but Royle successfully argues the case that the timing and nature of the cancers and their increase is causally related to Covid vaccination. He goes on to discuss possible biomolecular mechanisms.

Take this example published by the UK Telegraph under the title “Clinical trials saved my life. Every young person with cancer should have the chance I did”. The author is Harry Brown who was suddenly diagnosed at 17 years of age in July 2023 with aggressive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and also a bleed on the brain and retinas. In the article he shares how clinical trials and charity support gave him strength and a second chance at life. Harry writes:

“They told me that they needed to start treatment immediately. Within hours, I was receiving my first transfusion and preparing for chemotherapy. Unlike many others with ALL, standard chemotherapy wasn’t enough for me. Over five and a half months in hospital, my treatment escalated rapidly, starting with the ALLTogether treatment programme, an international trial that tailors treatment to the patient. When that also failed, I enrolled in a CAR T-cell therapy trial at Great Ormond Street Hospital – a ground-breaking treatment in which my own T cells were modified to recognise and attack leukaemia cells.”

In his deeply moving story Harry explains how the caring staff at the Teenage Cancer Trust became his physical and emotional lifeline as the cancer spread rapidly to his spinal fluid.  Now significantly better, he still has to go to hospital two times a month and at the very least will have to manage ongoing problems associated with the treatment such as a compromised immune system and the resultant vulnerability to infection. Harry’s resilience comes through vividly, along with his heartfelt wish that other young people affected should get the level of care he received.

We don’t know what caused Harry’s cancer, but the question the article failed to ask is the one that most urgently needs to be addressed: “Why have so many more people including young people been suddenly falling seriously ill with cancer since 2021?”. We know this is happening because of the very public testimony of UK oncology surgeons like Royle and Angus Dalgleish and because of data coming out of the USA, but the vast majority of the profession and health administrators as a whole seem not just content to ignore the problem but anxious to hide it from public view. Health NZ for example has refused to release cancer incidence data dating past 2020. We are being gaslit. As a result, many victims of vaccine injury are being left in the dark feeling that they are unlucky or somehow have only themselves or their personal circumstances to blame.

How is it possible that those professionals who have dedicated their lives to the treatment of the sick, have not just turned their heads away from the deficiencies of a procedure that they helped to implement, but also refused to contemplate the obvious cause? This doesn’t just affect the medical profession. The denial of Covid vaccine injury is a far more general syndrome. It stretches from the corridors of power into family discussions and workplace relationships, breaking long standing bonds. What is going on? All this adds up to a complete failure to recognise that our health circumstances have been irrevocably changed. People are stuck with past understandings and unable to move on. This appears to be a form of cognitive dissonance.

The nature of mRNA Covid vaccine injury and the appearance of generalised cognitive decline are perhaps related. This is because human biological processes are deeply embedded in the structure of natural law. A paper in Science entitled “Experimental test of local observer independence” reports an experiment investigating Bell’s theorem whose results show that “at least one of the three assumptions of free choice, locality, and observer-independent facts must fail”. Without addressing the technicalities, this suggests physical reality is closely intertwined with an observer existing in a non-local sense in touch with a “global wavefunction” able to influence apparently objective facts. In very simple terms, our consciousness influences physical events.

That is quite a philosophical proposition to swallow, but pause for a moment and think that our immune system also functions freely within certain constraints. It is not just a mechanical system. The human body is composed of thousands of control systems which detect change caused by disruptors and employ effectors to mediate that change, but all of these systems owe their design and operation to the genetic intelligence inside our cells. This genetic system does not have a solely predetermined set of remembered responses. It must be able to invent novel responses to novel pathogens. It can learn to recognise exotic pathogens and invent an appropriate physiology-wide counter response. 

In contrast, mRNA vaccination imposes an alien mechanical property on billions of cells, overwriting the flexibility of our gene-based immune response with a pre-determined, man-made instruction to produce a toxic spike protein. This interferes with our ‘natural immunity’, an established medical concept whose existence Dr Anthony Fauci tried to deny at the height of the vaccine rollout. The key word is ‘overwriting’. The flexibility and inventiveness of the immune system is being suppressed.

Given the total integration between consciousness and physiology, it should be no surprise that the flexibility and inventiveness of thinking could also be ‘overwritten’ or suppressed, leaving some individuals less able to change gear and take account of threatening novel situations. In other words, suffering from a loss of cognitive flexibility.

Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. Cognitive processes use existing knowledge but they can also generate entirely new knowledge. Cognitive deficit is an inclusive term used to describe the impairment of different domains of cognition including attention, memory, creativity, reasoning, etc. It is more commonly associated with ageing, but it can develop through multiple other causes. 

Crucially these include genetic syndromes and chromosomal abnormalities. It appears that a genetic syndrome could be induced by mRNA Covid vaccines which multiple research studies show adversely affects all eleven organ systems in the human body: the integumentary or outer layer, skeletal, muscular, nervous, cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary, endocrine, and reproductive systems. An extraordinary systemic failure. But not just these, also mental health, acuity and reasoning, made all the more insidious because the gradual decline in sound judgement is hidden from the recipient by the condition itself.

The failure to recognise the wide scale adverse effects of mRNA Covid vaccination has resulted in a species threatening cognitive deficit. The root cause of this is the vaccine-assisted passage of man-made genetic instructions through the cell membrane into the cytoplasm where they repurpose our essential genetic functions. The true horror of the situation lies in the massive world wide biotech research and development programmes currently underway to develop even more invasive mRNA so-called vaccines intended for mass use. This shouldn’t be too difficult to understand, but apparently those managing society and our health system are unable or unwilling to grasp or admit the obvious.

A cessation in the use of these vaccines is long past overdue on safety grounds. Without this, the crisis in public health will only grow. Continuing biotechnology experimentation could even overwhelm the fundamental structure of society. Please continue to alert your local representatives to the dangers posed by Covid vaccines. Be a positive force for change. Enough is enough. We need time to heal and make sure an inviolable framework for medical choice exists under the law.

On a positive note, possible methods to counter adverse effects of Covid vaccines and Covid infection could include a natural DNA-based diet and the practice of deep meditation. These topics are covered in my book Your DNA Diet. We currently have just 30 physical copies left out of the print run, so now is the time to order yours before they run out. 

We want to thank our readers for their continuing loyalty and support. Some of our staff will be taking a well deserved break from today up to December 1st, so we will be off air. I will be taking the time to review our options for a follow-up book based on our archive of articles and insights. In the meantime we look forward to reconnecting at the beginning of December.

Image credit: Mike Baumeister

Guy Hatchard PhD was formerly a senior manager at Genetic ID a global food testing and safety company (now known as FoodChain ID). You can subscribe to his websites HatchardReport.com and GLOBE.GLOBAL for regular updates by email.

He is the author of ‘Your DNA Diet: Leveraging the Power of Consciousness To Heal Ourselves and Our World. An Ayurvedic Blueprint For Health and Wellness’.

US Justice Department looks to break up Google

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Google news

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly seeking to force Google to sell its Chrome internet browser, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

The move marks a significant step in a broader antitrust crackdown on one of the world’s largest tech companies.

In August, District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had unlawfully monopolized the online search market by paying companies like Apple and Samsung to make its search engine the default on their devices.

Chrome, which holds a commanding 65% share of the global browser market—four times that of its closest competitor, Safari—plays a pivotal role in Google’s advertising business, giving the company substantial control over internet traffic and ad placements.

The DOJ is also expected to propose measures concerning artificial intelligence and data licensing requirements, potentially reshaping both the online search and AI industries, according to Bloomberg.

Google has pushed back against these efforts, with Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company’s vice president of regulatory affairs, calling the DOJ’s approach a “radical agenda” that exceeds the scope of the case.

The antitrust suit, originally filed in 2020 during Donald Trump’s presidency, alleges Google monopolised search and search advertising. Trump has made statements about Google, vowing during his 2024 campaign to prosecute the company but later suggesting it could simply be made “more fair.”

A hearing on proposed remedies is set for April, with a final ruling expected by August 2025. If the DOJ’s proposals are accepted, they could significantly alter the tech landscape and Google’s dominance in key markets.

Image credit: Growtika